They Say Bacon's Rebellion #2 (1)

In 1676, a man named Nathaniel Bacon led a rebellion known as Bacon’s Rebellion. According to Howard Zinn, Bacon’s Rebellion “was not a war of American colonists against the British. Instead, Bacon’s Rebellion was an uprising of angry, poor colonists against two groups they saw as their enemies. One was the Indians. The other was the colonists’ own rich and privileged leaders.” (A Young People’s History of the United States Pg. 35) The poor colonists were being pushed towards the Natives’ land and were upset because of the dangers living there posed. Governor William Berkeley would not help the frontiersmen fight the Natives. The poor colonists were being mistreated by Rich landowners and were worked in terrible conditions. Zinn also states that “The frontiersmen felt that the colonial government had let them down. They were angry, and they weren’t the only ones.” (A Young People’s History of the United States Pg. 36) Nathaniel Bacon became their leader. Although “He [Bacon] probably cared more about fighting Indians than about helping the poor” (A Young people’s History of the United States Pg. 37), The Virginians still trusted him. Bacon took authority and was elected into the House of Burgesses. Nathaniel Bacon’s wife Elizabeth Bacon herself writes “So he begged of the Governor for a commission in several letters to him that he might go out against them, but he would not grant one, so daily more mischief done by them, so your brother not able to endure any longer, he went out without a commission.” Bacon asked the Governor for permission to fight the Natives, But Berkeley declined. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Bacon went to battle the Natives anyway. He killed many Natives before he suddenly died of unknown causes.